Opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) vice president, Richard Msowoya, has said a unified Northern Region gives the party an edge as the 2019 elections fast approaches.
Msowoya held an emergency meeting at MCP headquarters in Mzuzu on Saturday that aimed to unite two factions from the North-South Region of the party.
The region’s Chairperson, Osborne Shera, and his Vice, Gracious Soko, have not worked together since the committee was elected.
The closed-door meeting which took three hours brought together all committee members of the MCP from North-South Region.
But speaking after the meeting, Msowoya was only reminding the leaders of their responsibilities.
“I came here to ensure we iron out all disagreements within the region. As a party, we realised we cannot win next elections if we are divided. Therefore, whether there were two camps or more than that, what we wanted was to let all come together in line with our party’s four cornerstones,” Msowoya said.
Commenting on the outcome of the meeting, Shera said the committee would start afresh.
“There were really grudges within us. Disagreements were indeed there but now you have witnessed us smiling at each other and shaking hands. This means we are now one MCP,” Shera said.
However, Soko refused to comment on the outcome of the meeting.
But one member who attended alleged that Msowoya used the platform to campaign for his position of vice president, as the party goes for a convention next year.
“He was saying, during the last convention, delegates from the two political regions from the North threatened to walk out of the convention because some delegates wanted Msowoya’s name out of the vice presidency position. What does that mean?” queried the source.
However, when contacted on Sunday, Msowoya said he did not say anything about party positions.
“That will mean every meeting I hold is campaign. Moreover, the convention [date] is not known now. I held a similar meeting in the North –North Region three months ago. I would have done North-South Region immediately after that but I was engaged with Parliament for the past two weeks,” Msowoya said.
However, the source also said Msowaya asked the committee to think about a fellow Northerner before an outsider because in Chitumbuka they say kanthu mkhako [guard and give preferences to what is yours].
The source also said Msowoya condemned some members of the committee who were accusing him of being behind the disagreements in the region.
According to the source, Msowoya challenged that he would not stop doing what he feels right, constitutional and good for the people who elected him as party vice president.
Recently, Msowoya told MCP supporters at a rally he conducted at Chintheche in Nkhata Bay that he is not moved with the rumoured move of Sidik Mia to the party.
Mia has clearly stated that he wants to become vice president for the country, come 2019.
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